Melaleuca tree scores – Blackpoll Warbler in Coronado, San Diego

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – The exciting news of a Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata, found by Paul Lehman and Barbara Carlson in Coronado, San Diego, lifted me out of a dull early-morning blur checking through endless Yellow-rumps at Mission Bay. I jumped in the car and soon made it over there to check it out. While I was picking over warblers shooting in and out of several favored Melaleuca trees, Paul and Barbara came back over and helped me look for the Blackpoll. Sure enough, two minutes later Paul pointed to the left side of the tree and there was the bird! Harassed severely by Yellow-rumps, the Blackpoll was very flighty and only settled for a moment in view, disappearing around the back of the tree into more quiet tangles. It then hopped trees and showed itself atop the opposite Melaleuca tree where I obtained a nice series of photographs.

This appears to be a diffusely marked first fall individual with a nice yellow coloration and indistinct streaks. The golden-yellow lower legs and particularly the feet, characteristic of Blackpoll Warbler, can be easily picked out in many of the photographs below, especially the final image. A very nice wood-warbler find and a new San Diego County bird for me that I had hoped to come across this fall.